Closing in on 22 months of age, our son is rapidly expanding his capabilities and understanding of the world around him. This past weekend, while I was toiling away at our house, my wife and son were spending the weekend at my parents house to stay away from the demolition. To put it simply, their house is not child proofed and as my mother put it yesterday, "a tornado came to my house this weekend and its name was (our son)". One of the first things our son always does when he gets to my parents house is grab the watering can from their back mudroom and bring to the closest adult so that he can help water the indoor plants. Once that is done, he gets the bird food and brings it over to make sure the bird feeder of the kitchen sink is full for the birds. He obviously can't do it, but he hands it to either myself or my dad and we take care of it for him. Then he likes to watch the birds come and eat their food. This past weekend, he figured out how to operate my parents microwave. He had figured out how to open and close the door, spin the dial, and push some buttons previously; however this weekend, he found the start/stop button. I must say, if a microwave manufacturer is every looking for a way to test their products, all they need to do is get about a dozen toddlers in the room and let them go nuts. The microwave door must have been opened and closed over a hundred times and once our son found the start/stop button, it was turned on and off incessantly. There were a few times where had someone not been watching him, things could have turned out badly as he tried to cook some metal pot covers, however he was always caught in the act. It still amazes me to see how once our son figures out how to do something, he repeats it over and over and over again until he masters it. He may not have a full understanding of what exactly it is that he is doing, however, the actions are being perfected and the understanding will come later. All the above, however, is nothing spectacular compared with the other things he did this weekend. Another little "toy" that he figured out how to master is the chair that rides up and down the stairs that my grandmother used when she lived there. I rode up and down with him in my lap a few times on Friday when I was there and witnessed him climb into the chair by himself. The climbing into the chair seemed like nothing to him, as if he had been doing it for years, and then he figured out how to take himself up and down.
I showed him how to use the controls while I was there, however, I didn't get to witness him utilize the controls by himself. That happened while I was working. Apparently, he climbed into the chair and started taking himself up the stairs with the control. There was an adult there during his escapade, but I was amazed that after only showing him the controls twice that he was able to figure out how to use them himself. Speaking of stairs and climbing, he also started periodically walking up the stairs without holding on to anything. The bigger stairs that go all the way up to the second floor are a little more of a challenge, however, a single big step is no longer an obstacle. At one point, I was told that he was carrying something from the front porch into the house and in order to get into the house, he needed to get over a big step. I guess he just looked at the step, put his foot up while holding whatever he was holding, and just stepped up without support. His balance has obviously increased by leaps and bounds in order for him to manage that feat at his age. While I don't know the capabilities of many other kids his age, from what I have heard, he shouldn't be doing some of the things he is doing. Apparently there are kindergartners who still have trouble walking up steps and here is our son at not even 2 years of age beginning to navigate them alone and without trouble. Continuing on with events from this past weekend, he also decided that he would climb right into his high chair at my parents house. It was time for dinner (which I had with them at my parents house so I could see our son) and I told our son that it was time to eat. As I was bringing food into the dining room, he ran around the table and before I knew it, he was sitting in his high chair, waiting for his tray to be clipped on. It was as if someone turned on the climbing switch inside of him that had been turned off until now. All of a sudden, taller objects are no big deal in terms of climbing them. I just hope that he doesn't figure out how to climb the fence around our yard yet. In a year or two when his balance is even better, I won't mind as much, but right now, I just want him to stay away from the fence.
So before I finish up for today, I have two more quick stories about our son. The first happened yesterday and is directly linked to climbing, the second has to do with his understanding of the English language. Yesterday afternoon, after I got home from work, I was hanging out with my wife and son in the living room. As is normally the case before our son goes to bed, he gets a little scattered and crazy. He saw the cat on a table by the couch in the living room and he wanted to go see her. While he as been able to climb on our couch for quite some time now, his newest feat is climbing from the seat of the couch onto the back of it. The couch in question is in front of a window. With that little extra space, he uses mostly his arms to pull himself up high enough so he can get his legs over the top. He then stands on the window sill (between the window and the back of the couch) before sliding back down and doing it over again. The funny part came when he tried to get to the cat by crawling along the top of the couch. Where the couch meets the window it isn't a problem for him as there is enough room for him to balance on top of the couch. However, the couch extends beyond the window along part of the wall where there is almost no room to crawl. This didn't stop him from trying though. Laying prone on top of the couch, he tried shimmying his way along the top, keeping as close to the wall as he could so he wouldn't fall. There just wasn't enough room, however, and time after time after time he would slide down on to the seat of the couch. After about 2 dozen attempts, he figured out that he wasn't going to be able to reach the cat along the top of the couch and ran off to do something else. It was really cool and funny to watch. My favorite part was seeing the determination in his face to reach the cat. Life is amazing. And before I leave you to your own devices for the day, I have one last quick story. At my parents pool, we have a little swimmy vest (the kind with a tube that hangs on your shoulders and secures between your crotch) that our son hated before. This past weekend, my dad told him that he wouldn't be able to go into the pool unless he put it on. Well, guess who decided that the swimmy vest wasn't so bad after all. As soon as he heard that, he put it on and was ready to in. I guess he understands more than he lets on sometimes. I must say, I enjoy every minute I get to spend with our son! Till tomorrow, enjoy the beautiful weather (if your in CT that is).
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